MICROWAVE AND MILLIMETER WAVE RESONANT SENSOR HAVING PERPENDICULAR FEED, AND IMAGING SYSTEM
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A switched-slot sensor for use in a sensor array comprising:
- a conductive surface having a slot formed therein;
an active element connected across the slot; and
a transmission line oriented substantially perpendicular to the conductive surface near the slot, said transmission line providing a feed coupled to the active element for selectively modulating the slot, wherein an output signal from the sensor is representative of an electric field detected at the modulated slot.
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Abstract
A switched-slot sensor for use in a sensor array for microwave and/or millimeter wave imaging. The locations of a plurality of sensors in the array define a spatial domain away from an object for detecting an electric field from the object. Each of the sensors has an out-of-plane transmission line and outputs a signal representative of the measured field and the location of the sensor. A processor decodes the signals and generates an image of the object.
145 Citations
35 Claims
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1. A switched-slot sensor for use in a sensor array comprising:
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a conductive surface having a slot formed therein; an active element connected across the slot; and a transmission line oriented substantially perpendicular to the conductive surface near the slot, said transmission line providing a feed coupled to the active element for selectively modulating the slot, wherein an output signal from the sensor is representative of an electric field detected at the modulated slot. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. An imaging system comprising:
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a sensor array having a plurality of switched-slot sensors for measuring an electric field from an object, said sensors being positioned at locations corresponding to a defined spatial domain located remotely from the object, said sensors each providing an output signal representative of the electric field detected at the respective location of the sensor, wherein each of said sensors comprises; a conductive surface having a slot formed therein, said conductive surface defining a first plane; an active element connected across the slot, and a transmission line oriented in a second plane different than and non-parallel to the first plane, said transmission line providing a feed coupled to the active element for selectively modulating the slot; a receiver operatively connected to the array for receiving the output signals from the sensors; a processor configured to generate a multi-dimensional profile representative of the object in the defined spatial domain based on the received output signals; and a display for displaying an image of the multi-dimensional profile. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A method of generating a multi-dimensional profile of an object, said method comprising:
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illuminating the object with an electric field, said electric field comprising electromagnetic energy having a frequency greater than ultra high frequency and being scattered by the object illuminated thereby; sampling the scattered electric field at a plurality of locations via a plurality of switched-slot sensors, said locations corresponding to a defined spatial domain located remotely from the object, each of said sensors comprising an active element connected across a slot, said slot defining a first plane, each of said sensors further comprising a transmission line oriented in a second plane different than and non-parallel to the first plane; receiving output signals from the sensors; and generating a multi-dimensional profile representative of the object in the defined spatial domain based on the received output signals from the sensors. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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30. A switched-slot sensor for use in a sensor array comprising:
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a conductive surface having a slot formed therein, said surface defining a sensor plane; an active element connected across the slot; and an out-of-plane transmission line coupled to the active element, said transmission line providing a feed to the active element for selectively modulating the slot and transmitting an output signal from the sensor, said output signal being representative of an electric field detected at the modulated slot. - View Dependent Claims (31)
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32. An imaging system comprising:
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a plurality of switched-slot sensors positioned at locations corresponding to a defined spatial domain located remotely from the object, said sensors receiving and responsive to electromagnetic energy at a frequency greater than ultra high frequency for detecting an electric field from the object, wherein each of said sensors comprises; a conductive surface having a slot formed therein, said conductive surface defining a first plane; an active element connected across the slot, and a transmission line oriented in a second plane different than and non-parallel to the first plane, said transmission line providing a feed coupled to the active element for selectively changing the resonant frequency thereof to modulate the slot and transmitting an output signal representative of the electric field detected at the respective location of the sensor as a function of the resonant frequency of the modulated slot; a receiver operatively connected to the sensors for receiving the output signals therefrom representative of the electric field detected at the plurality of locations; and a processor configured to generate a multi-dimensional profile representative of the object in the defined spatial domain based on the received output signals from the sensors. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35)
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Specification